


Condonation

by LukeWords



Category: JAG (TV 1995)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26398729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukeWords/pseuds/LukeWords
Summary: Following the events of "People vs. Gunny" (S05 E17) - Gunny (just trying to help an old friend) was involved in a fight with Tiner and his gay half-brother Edward Proxy, accused of gay-bashing and tried twice - Gunny and Tiner returned to their normal work routines, but something is different and Gunny feels responsible to offer more than justice can deliver - an apology.But that's surprisingly complicated...
Kudos: 2





	1. A heated exchange

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are: Sometimes one should not add even more workload to himself, but then there is this idea that won't go away. As part of quarantine, I started to watch good old "JAG" and so I ended up with that idea from People vs. Gunny.  
> Without too much of an archaeological reminder, you can probably remember one of this fights between Bud and Harriet that last for weeks (and episodes). Gunny and Tiner seemed to have reconciled within that episode over much more than just a little misstep and besides a fair competition for the Admiral's recognition between them, but then there is surprisingly less to support that in the said episode. So maybe they didn't?
> 
> I won't promise regular updates, but this can be read as a one-shot as well, I think.
> 
> I apologize for any inconveniences from English not being my primary language. I'm happy with any feedback, also regarding potential mistakes.

****

**1945 local time (Thursday evening)  
JAG Headquaters  
Falls Church, VA**

They had their last private talk on the floors of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse in Baltimore, minutes before the Circut Court jury found him not guilty of the hate crime he had been accused of, just like the preliminary hearing conducted by JAG had before. That was nearly two weeks ago.  
They had worked alongside for months, fighting each other to get the eye of the Admiral they both admired and respected from nearly day one, but that had always been a brotherly way of fighting. If the need had come – if the need would come, he had to correct himself — he wouldn’t hesitate a second to stand up for Tiner. Well, maybe he would take this one second just to have the zero-second spot for Lieutenant Sims, because she was not just an officer but also a lady — and who would not want to give a lady that spot?  
Until that damn night, he had sworn that Tiner would do the same for him. But the spirit of brotherhood between soldiers could of course not stand against the spirit of actual brotherhood, be that a ‘full’ brother or — in this case — a half brother. He couldn’t hold that against Tiner, he would do the same for his family for sure. But they had to clear the situation, and they had to do fast before the Admiral would notice.  
He couldn’t say that it wasn’t his fault for the most part, even if Tiner had said that all three of them had made mistakes in that night on the streets of Baltimore. He had decided to protect his old friend Manny to the tall grass afterwards, even disobeying the lawful order of the military judge — a superior officer — to disclose his identity. As a result, his coworkers at the JAG Headquaters had likely thought about him as homophobic just like they had made their mind about Tiner being gay within minutes after the first word of that night had come to light besides knowing the man in some cases for years. They wouldn’t change their mind anytime soon although nobody was talking about it aloud and that all was his fault — even if he had drawn his own conclusions about Tiner’s visit to the club just as fast and had felt how wrong that was only after being subjected to a different kind of stereotype himself.  
Yet, it had taken himself two weeks to make the first step himself. So much to the bravery of a U.S. Marine.

“Tiner?”, he called for the younger — and subordinate — enlisted at a time where most people working at JAG had already left, today including Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie, who were preparing to re-investigate a Korean War issue but not yet at a stage where this special case would mandate their too regular late hours in the office. But since the Admiral was still in his office, that meant Tiner couldn’t leave and was his chance to clear their situation without any excuses to be brought to avoid talking.

  
  


“Yes, Gunnery Sergeant Galindez?”, he got the response he had expected but hated: In the military, it was “Gunny” unless you hated that particular soldier with that rank or he was too much pain in the ass to allow the use of that nickname, and he wasn’t used to be called by his name by JAG members since his first week on the Corps. So much to letting the grass grow over the thing. Judging by the volume of the response, Tiner hadn’t been aware of the fact that he had moved over right to the – open - door of the Admiral's anteroom.  
“I’m right here, Tiner.”, he responded and stepped in the door frame.  
“Excuse me, Gunnery Sergeant, I didn’t notice”, it sounded not like a genuine apology — not that he had wanted one for simply shouting a bit too loud in response — but more like a duty-bound one and the following statement made clear even more how much their talk in the courthouse or the reference to ‘mistakes on all sides’ had not been the words of a man who was ready to forgive: “And it’s Petty Officer Tiner to you, please, Gunnery Sergeant.”  
He sighed, but responded calmly: “About that, I wanted to talk to you, Tiner. I think we need to talk.”  
“You think so, Gunnery Sergeant?”, Tiner answered without one word too much and stressing his rank in a way to remind him of the request he had neglected within seconds of it being made.  
“Yes, I think so. And I don’t want that to be a discussion about the use of military ranks to hurt somebody…”, he should have thought about the use of words too when he had thought about what he wanted to say, Gunny realized one blink of an eye, as Tiner interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.  
“Do you think, Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, Sir, that the use of proper military ranks and forms of address, hurt more than that little present you put on my face just a few weeks ago? I know it’s no longer there to look at, but I haven't forgotten, Sir.”, he stated without even rising his voice a little, but he stared at Gunny as if he was thinking about ‘coming lower’ as Gunny had advised him in the floors of the court for ‘next time’.  
“… or about a jury verdict…”, Gunny simply continued his sentence as he didn’t know how to response to the toxic potential of that statement without ruining the intend he had when walking over to talk.  
“Well, I guess that’s normal, Gunnery Sergeant: You were found not guilty by a military judge and a civil jury as well, so everything has to be forgotten, right?”, something changed about Tiner’s tone: The issue he was talking about made him clearly angry, but he fought himself not to show it and not to rise his voice to much to be noticed by the Admiral or anyone else who could wander the floors of the seemingly empty Headquaters that were never really empty.

  
  


Gunny took a deep breath as he had reached — not quite as well as he had wished their talk to go forward, but sometimes one had to take the results and not the way to achieve them — a point to work with: “Look, Tiner, I may be not guilty of the gay-bashing they accused me with, but I still feel guilty for hurting you and your brother.”  
“That’s good, Gunnery Sergeant. Do you want me to put your name on the Admiral's list for a military honor?”, the clearly sarcastic reaction was highly unusual for Chegwidden’s Yeoman who was on the receiving end of practically every joke he got involved with under normal circumstances.  
“Look, Petty Officer Tiner, I am serious about it and I would ask you — beg you if that’s what you expect from me at this point — to listen to me.”, Gunny pleaded with his colleague he considered a friend.  
“To tell me what?”, Tiner’s voice got louder, what seemed to shock the man himself, who didn’t continue for a second and then concentrated very much on nearly whispering: “That you don’t believe my testimony in court and still think I’m gay and find me disgusting? You see, some people were just unsure about how to react to the possibility — like Lieutenant Roberts who ran after our hands accidentally touched as we wanted to reach the same computer mouse — and meant no harm, some people just did mean well — like Colonel MacKenzie who stood in for the Admiral and reminded me about the risk of ‘wrongful co-habitation’ after some anonymous dude called JAG asking for me to return home with him — but no one in this offices had the guts to call me into the face what your mysterious friend called my brother that night.”, Tiner enumerated, “Based on your friendship with that Manny, the man telling me to get my ass out of the military would be you, Sir?”  
“Stop it, Tiner, please!”, Gunny pleaded another time, “It’s me!”  
“Oh, do I know you, Gunnery Sergeant Galindez?”, Tiner questioned him, “I mean, I am no child who will pretend not having met you or not working with you for months now – probably working well together and having our fun little battles in the past. But the moment you fought my brother and me in that night, we moved past that, Sir. I am not interested in any ‘fun fights’ after getting to meet your fist.”, he elaborated his position, “And as I said, I would prefer being addressed as Petty Officer Tiner in the future, Gunnery Sergeant Galindez.”  
“Do you want to punch me back for real this time, Petty Officer Tiner?”, Gunny offered with not the slightest pinch of a joke.  
“Excuse me?”, he clearly caught the Yeoman off his guard with that offer, as the surprised reaction showed, “Sir?”  
“You heard me, Jason. If that’s what’s needed for you to at least listen to me, I will take it as earned, it’s just fair.”, Gunny repeated that offer and used Tiner’s first name maybe for the first time — at least as he could remember.  
“So is that the strongman in you thinking everything can be solved with just punching each other or your way to get me out of the military fast — assaulting a superior?”, Tiner shook his head and made a dismissing hand movement at the same time, “I have work to do as long as the Admiral is still in his office, Gunnery Sergeant. Would you care to excuse me?”, to underline that he considered their conversation finished, he opened one of the dossiers that filled his desk.  
“Wow, you really think I am a monster, Tiner. I don’t get why you let yourself called back as a witness for the defense then.”, concluded Gunny bitterly.  
“I am still a soldier in the U.S. Navy and I will not let down another soldier if it’s just about telling the truth. Although I may regret implying that you are not homophobic, Sir.”, was the very direct response to that.  
“Look, Jason, I hate that you think of me in that way and it’s quite the opposite to the impression I got from you in Court. I thought we were on a good way again not just working together as soldiers but as persons. I wanted to offer an apology because as I said: They might have found me not guilty but I still feel”, he stressed that word heavily, “guilty towards your brother and you. The Admiral called me out for misguided loyalty towards my friend Manny, but that’s because he helped me through a very dark time in my life and not because I share his views on … people like your brother.”  
“You mean gays, Gunnery Sergeant Galindez. You can use that word without getting sick or infected with it, Sir.”, Tiner spit out in response before he had considered the words of their Gunny — as they sank in, he felt sorry, but just a little bit.  
“For God’s sake, please stop calling me Gunnery Sergeant Galindez, Petty Officer Tiner.”, Gunny pleaded yet again, this time sounding even more desperate, “You know full well that I’m embarrassed with that in this office. I came to offer friendship again after what I thought was peace between us. I knew you were still angry with me, but I didn’t expect you to hate me. Tell me what I need to do, Ja--- Petty Officer Tiner.”

  
  


Now it was Tiner’s turn to feel a little helpless. He had been as harsh as he had planned to be with Victor Galindez, but that didn’t feel right. On the other hand, he could not apologize for what he had said.  
“Perhaps”, he said quietly after a few moments of silence, “you are right, Gunny. We need to talk, as colleagues, not as soldiers. What was it you wanted to tell me before we got lost in this chaos?”  
“I don’t think that what I thought would be a good solution to this whole fallout is something that reflects your thoughts about who I am after that.”, Gunny hesitated to follow his initial plan.  
“And I think I might have overreacted. It’s quite a uncomfortable situation for me to be honest.”, it was that much of ‘sorry’ Tiner was ready to say — he wouldn’t take back a single word of what he had said before.  
“I understand that, Petty Officer Tiner. And if you conclude that you can’t stand me here, I will put a request to be moved back to some guns or something.”  
“That wasn’t what you wanted to offer Gunny, was it?”, stopped Tiner him to go on any more.  
“No, it wasn’t. I wanted to offer dinner on Saturday to your brother and you to get a real chance to talk about it. But I can’t ask you to agree to that proposal now.”, Gunny laid out his initial plan – the one in which Tiner was still angry with him but didn’t hate him. In the end, he couldn’t judge the man badly for that, but what was his brother thinking if he had left such a bad opinion with a coworker?  
  
  


Tiner seemed genuinely surprised with that, but he didn’t take much time to think about his response: “You can’t ask me to agree, that’s right. But I will ask Ed about it – and to give you a chance.”  
“Why?”, was it now Gunny’s turn to be surprised. After all that tirades — civilised in tone but harsh in the substance — he couldn’t comprehend this answer.  
“Because it seems that – like me, Ed and you that night – I made a mistake. That mistake can not undo the mistakes you made, but I should’ve given you a fair chance to present your case at least. Thank God I’m just in administration and not a lawyer.”, the Yeoman admitted, “And just to be clear, Gunny: It’s not just you that I’m uncomfortable with at the moment. It’s the fact that everyone seems to know a different Jason Tiner than I do, based on assumptions they’ve made from this lawsuits and they acted differently with that Jason Tiner – still do sometimes in fact.”  
“I’ sorry for that too, Petty Officer Tiner.”, was all Gunny could offer as an answer to that statement.  
“I made assumptions about you too, Gunny. Assumptions I should’ve known better about knowing you as my colleague. So the least I can offer is accepting your offer for now and see if we can get this thing resolved for good. Don’t take that as forgiveness yet, I can’t give you that.”  
“God, Tiner, you sound like one of my ex-girlfriends.”, Gunny couldn’t hold that comment back.

“You should tell us about her on Saturday. Where do you want to go?”, Tiner was obviously not looking for drama like her, Gunny concluded — anymore at least.  
“I thought about that being your choice. But please no bars.”, he requested.  
“Don’t you mean ‘no gay bars’?”, Tiner followed up on that aspect, causing Gunny to clear his throat nervously: “No, I meant no bars. I want that to be civil, so alcohol should be avoided, if you understand.”  
Tiner didn’t react to that, simply answering with an “Ok. I will tell you tomorrow if Ed is on board and where we could go.”  
  
  


With that answer, Gunny seemed relieved after all. As he turned away to call it a day after a simple nod as an goodbye, Tiner returned to the dossier he had opened a few minutes before.  
Neither he nor Gunny noticed a smiling Admiral A. J. Chegwidden behind the door of his office, which he had opened a small bit just in the right moment to recognize at least the first step of reconciliation — some things, he concluded, had to sort themselves and weren’t his place to arbitrate as he had thought to finally do in the last days.  
For now, he would just wait a few more minutes before calling it a day for himself and his surprisingly stubborn Yeoman, just to minimize the risk of being busted in his little eavesdropping maneuver.


	2. Who needs to be convinced?

****

**2205 local time  
** **Apartment s** **outh of Gwynns Falls Parkway** **  
Baltimore, MD**

Tiner had made it a record time of nearly under two hours to leave JAG, get out of his uniform (although he kind of cheated by taking the spare clothes from his locker), into his car and to Baltimore (although he kind of cheated there as well as the rush hour was already gone). That didn’t change the fact that he arrived pretty late for a visit on a weekday. But on his few minute walk to the apartment building he was sure that Ed would not be bothered by his visit at this late hour too much — not as much at least as he himself would be bothered to get out of his bed on time for duty tomorrow.  
The building was old, but not dirty, and surprisingly quiet as he entered it, stepping up the stairs to the second floor — there was no elevator to be found — before approaching the apartment on the left side right at the end of the corridor. He hadn’t visited Ed here before, they had always met at a café or at their parents house for practical reasons, so his half brother was a little surprised as he looked into Tiner’s face when he opened the door: “Jas, what are you doing here?”  
“Well, that’s a nice way to say ‘Hello’, isn’t it, big bro?”, he responded, trying not to be too formal as that kind of reaction would remind Edward about the military background he couldn’t quite resist.  
“It’s not quite the time for a cup of coffee either, is it?”, came the reaction fast, but with a smile.  
“The Admiral always says that somewhere around the globe it’s always time for a good coffee. But I didn’t come to ask for a coffee.”, was his way of asking to be let in.  
“And what does the Admiral say about visiting gay man in the middle of the night?”, Edward Proxy asked flippantly, but stepped back to let his visitor in, “You’re lucky that I’m not dressed for bed just yet, Jas — and that I have no visitors.”  
  
  


“Do you have visitors over often at such a time?”, Tiner ignored the little jokes on his expense and stepped into the apartment which seemed about as small as his own in Virginia.  
“What about you, Jas?”, was Ed’s question for an answer.  
“Well, it’s Thursday evening and I’m under the Admiral’s orders to be in the office no later than 0730 on Friday mornings — like on any workday, unless special orders apply.”, he recited his schedule, “So no, I don’t.”  
“I would have been surprised if you were, little brother.”, Ed smirked, “So what are the Admiral's orders about your bedroom then, besides that no man are allowed in it?”  
“Stop it, Ed!”, Tiner’s face went red in an instant, what caused his half-brother to giggle — yes, actually giggle.  
“It’s just us, Tiner, the door is closed behind you, nobody even knows you are here and yet I can’t ask you about your private life? I, your brother?”, the teasing was more than evident in his tone, “What’s that about bravery they preach you in the military? It seems that you are not the perfect soldier, are you?”  
Tiner groaned: “What’s next? Telling me how worthless clerical work for an Admiral in the U.S. Navy is? I’ve had that enough, Mr ‘What exactly am I doing with my life’ Proxy!”  
“Woha, learned to fight back now, Jas?”, Edward stepped closer and put his hand on Tiners shoulder, “Listen: I can’t stand the military because of what they do to people like me, that’s right. But I don’t consider your work as worthless more than you do mine.”  
“I’ve never said that much, Edward!”, protested Tiner.  
“But how exactly is some mediocre journalist relevant when it comes to service to our country?”, his brother followed up.  
“Not everyone has to be in the military to do something good, Ed. I found my place and you found yours.”  
“Well, if you see it that way, why are you so embarrassed to tell your co-workers about your half-brother that some of them might have mistaken me for your secret lover, sweetie?”, Tiner couldn’t explain why his brother was getting so aggressive in his tone — just another conversation that didn’t went well on this day.  
“Look, we don’t talk about family much at JAG: The Admiral just brings up his daughter if he feels guilty for having ignored her for too long again, Commander Rabb just talked about his father because he was obsessed with finding him after he went missing when he was a small child, Lieutenants Roberts and Sims just talk about their baby all the time because it’s their baby and about Gunny’s sister I know nothing more than that her name is Val.”, he tried to explain.  
“Well, at least you know about some family then, but why would you talk about your half-brother who must be gay of all things?”, Edward didn’t take that explanation.  
“I’m not ashamed of you, Ed, if that is what you want to say!”, Tiner interjected.  
“You very much said so, Jas!”, he was reminded instantly.  
“We were teenagers, Ed. How many times did I apologize for being an idiot back then since then? I even celebrated your birthday at a gay club with you.”  
  
  


“An idiot? Is that what the lawyers of yours call an asshole?”, that form of emotional reaction came unexpected in its force, “And that’s a pretty good point, Jas, that night — and isn’t that Gunny the man who gay-bashed me? Still serving with you, still your comrade.”  
“Look, Eddie, I didn’t come to fight with you…”, Tiner had raised his hands already, “I just needed to talk to you.”  
Edward Proxy looked as if he wasn’t quite finished with his tirade for a few seconds, but then he reacted with a simple as quiet “Ok, let’s talk. But you will have to sit on the bed, I haven't got any room for a couch or something like that — let alone a proper living room.”  
“I’m used to that, Ed, don’t worry!”, Tiner assured him, “Virginia isn’t cheaper than Maryland I guess, especially in the suburbs. But anything is better than military barracks, trust me.”

  
  


**2300 local time  
Sarah MacKenzie’s apartment  
Washington, D.C.**

“Listen, Mic, I know that I might call at a bad time.”, Sarah MacKenzie told her kind-of-finance in Sydney, Australia, 14 hours ahead of her time.  
“You never call at a bad time, honey. I’m having lunch right now.”, the Australian soldier answered, “But I could imagine something I would like better than this meal.”, always having some twists in his statements.  
“I just got out of bed again, couldn’t sleep after all. And in not too many days, Harm and I will be deployed to investigate this Korean bridge massacre. I should get more sleep, not less.”, she complained — Colonel MacKenzie, the Marine, did never complain about something, but with Mic, there was no need to be Colonel MacKenzie while sitting on her couch in the almost dark living area, the phone almost clenched as it could made the distance between them any smaller.  
“What is it that keeps you from sleep, Sarah?”, his voice sounded caring, even over the almost 10,000 miles that set them apart, just like Harm cared… - she shouldn’t think that of the man she considered her brother after more than four years!  
“I can’t talk about it or it could cause trouble for someone the Admiral likes…”, she tried to resist that question, she had to try at least, even if she was looking forward to discuss it with Mic, that being the reason of this call after all.  
“Is it his stupid daughter again?”, she could hear his amusement.  
“How can you say that about the daughter of the Admiral? And she isn’t stupid!”, Mac couldn’t stop herself from laughing, a little at least.  
“He’s your Admiral, not mine, Colonel.”, Her Majesty’s Commander Brumby reminded her, “And yes, she is. She had to be rescued, if I remember correctly?”  
“If you say so.”, she was a bit too tired to argue that irrelevant point any further, “But it’s not about Francesca. It’s about the son he never had.”  
“Ah, he regrets not having established the Chegwidden dynasty in the U.S. Navy now?”, Mic couldn’t stop his loose mouth right there, “He’s just lonely, sweetheart and you are not, so that’s nothing that should keep you awake.”  
“No, that isn’t the issue, Mic. If you want to help me, we need to talk serious.”, she demanded with a sigh.  
“Is it that bad?”, that was the Brumby she loved: No matter how bad he had been with or into jokes, he knew when to stop it — at least when a certain Commander Rabb wasn’t involved.  
“What does your UCMJ say about homosexual service members, Mic?”, she forced herself to open up on the matter.  
“As I have told you before, it’s called the Defence Forces Discipline Act…”  
“That wasn’t nearly the substance of my question, Mic.”, she interjected and thereby interrupted him harshly in his ‘You have a lot to learn’ kind of answer.  
“Sustained, your Honor, sustained… It’s not a big deal here to be honest. Legal for quite some years now, questions asked or not.”, it was a bad reference to ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’, “But what has that to do with the Admiral's fictional son?”  
“So it’s legal in Her Majesty’s Navy?”, Mac asked for confirmation.  
“Yea, it is. Prime Minister Keating if I remember correctly. But I fear that most of cute asses would not be interested.”, it was meant as a joke, but made Mac regret that she had brought the up – so much to ‘he knew when to stop’.  
“Forget it, Mic. I’ll call you on the weekend, alright?”, she gave up.  
“Wait, Sarah, it was just a joke. I’ve nothing bad to say about the career choices of a gay man as long as he keeps his hands away from me.”, Brumby tried to rescue the situation – and himself?  
“Just forget it, alright?”, Mac refused to have that and ended the call with a simple “Good night, Mic!” — no love declared this time.

**2** **320** **local time  
** **Apartment s** **outh of Gwynns Falls Parkway** **  
Baltimore, MD**

“And that’s what led you here?”, Edward Proxy wasn’t too happy with the proposal his half-brother had made to him and he wasn’t too reserved in showing that, “At a weeknight? That asshole must be important to you.”  
“We work together every day, Ed. I can’t afford a solo and I can’t afford to upset the Admiral.”, Tiner just summed up the arguments he had brought before, “I want to have a future in the Navy.”  
“And that homophobic Marine needs to be part of that Navy?”, a question that was followed by a grumpy huff.  
“Gunny can be a pain in the ass, but he is certainly not homophobic, Ed. And he’s my boss in some way. What would be the point in offering dinner to you and me if he would be after all?”, Tiner rose in defense of a friend — a friend he himself gave a hard time at the moment, but a friend he wanted to give a chance to apologize genuinely, as he had practically begged for.  
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe he just wants to finish what he had started that night and bring me down for good this time? At least he got his ‘get out of jail free card’ twice without even naming that scumbag he calls a friend!”  
“Stop it, Ed, that’s not funny!”, Tiner interrupted that tirade in an attempt to calm their discussion that had already.  
“I’m not trying to be funny little brother. I don’t know if I should admire you or hate you for how much you care about so called ‘comrades’ that even family must stand back.”, the failure of that attempt was evident, but it didn’t stop quite there for him: “I guess it’s easy if it’s just that gay brother nobody should know anyway.”  
“You know that this isn’t how I see you, Ed.”, the younger man protested.  
“You say that now, Jas, but do you think I could forget or have forgotten what you said to me all those years ago?”, came the loaded question back to him, “You always made dad proud, were his little hero, destined for a great carrier in the military, just like his father — I could be his wife’s son if he had a hard time with me.”  
“You know that he loves you just like his own, Ed, don’t you? He had a hard time to come to terms with you being gay, but he never threw you out or hit you or sent you to someone who offered to fix you.”, now he had to defend not only Gunny but also his father apparently.  
“If you think that’s the bar for good parenting, I hope you never have kids, Jason. That would be a pity because being an uncle might be the closest I’ll ever get to descendants, but I couldn’t bear that happening to anyone!”, it was as if destiny would not only pay back the mean words Tiner had said a few hours earlier now, but pay it back with interest.  
“Could we please stop this nonsense, Edward? You know that I love you and that mum and dad love us both. Yet you try to hurt me.”, Tiner complained, adding bitterly: “Me, who tried to protect you in the first place. And now you bring up things I thought we would be long over.”

  
  


After an akward silence, Edward had to admit: “You didn’t back me in court, Jason. I’m hurt by that, but I understand it, just as we moved over your initial reactions ages ago — you were just a child, man.”, he paused for dramatic effect, “But I don’t get why you have to do more for this dude than just telling the so-called truth in court, what was only a question of perspective if you ask me.”  
“You still think I shouldn’t have gone back to testify for the defense?”, Tiner asked, “That was my duty, brother, my goddam duty as a soldier and as a citizen and I won’t apologize for that.”  
“I don’t expect you to, Jas. And I didn’t intend to hurt you.”, that sounded honest, if not regretful, “But I can’t understand why you do this now. Everything is out of harms way, justice won’t be served and we can indeed move on, as you said that day in court. But you are not moving on or asking me to move on, you try to convince me to walk back together with you.”, Edward sighed deeply, “Not just that: You drive all the way to talk me into something I don’t want without the slightest warning and in the middle of the night. I’m not over that incident, even if it’s healed. I still don’t sleep well at night and I haven't gone out since then. I just can’t pretend nothing happened.”  
Tiner was visibly shaken, even helpless, over that statement as it hit him unprepared. He couldn’t find words, so he just decided to pull Edward into a hug. It was his brother, who found his words again afterwards first: “You are crying, Jas — and don’t deny it, you made my shirt wet with it.”  
“Yeah.”, Tiner confirmed, “I am crying, just as you do. I hate seeing you hurt, man, even if you are the big bro of us.”, both of them shared a small smile, “And I hate myself for not realizing that you were struggling that much. I mean, I got hit too and the time they presumed me to be gay — thought about investigating me over a lover that they didn’t know is my half-brother instead — was like hell. But that all wasn’t directed against me, it was directed against a person they presumed I was. It was rather easy to move on for me. Besides the issue with Gunny, that is. I wanted closure and I presumed you were ready for it just as I am.”  
“And you are right about it, Jas”, Edwards response hit Tiner by surprise, “I should help you to finish that chapter for yourself even if I’m not ready to finish it for myself — who knows, maybe it helps me to see that this Gunny is just one of these bad-boy-soldiers who just can’t afford not to be homophobic and he’s not one of the gay-bashers. I’m in. But for you and not for him, Jas, so don’t think I will accept his apology on my knees.”

  
**0015** **local time  
Apartment ** **n** **orth of Union Station  
Washington, D.C.**

Harm opened the door with not much more than his underwear on him — and a very angry expression on his face for being disturbed again in the middle of the night. An expression to set fear into Clayton Webb for just a few seconds until he would follow the requests of the CIA anyway. What he didn’t expect was Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, let alone a Sarah MacKenzie who looked as she did: just terrible.  
“Mac! Did something happen to Brumby?”, he melted in less then the seconds Webb would have needed for not saying the excuses that would’ve been in order.  
“No.”, Mac shook her head as Harm gently pulled her inside and closed the door behind her, “No, he’s fine. It’s just that I thought I could talk about this thing with him and he ruined it. Ruined it badly.”, it was obvious that she would have cried if it wasn’t for her Marine discipline.  
“I’m not sure if I’m the right person to talk with about Brumby”, under normal circumstances, Harm would have taken every opportunity to mock that annoying servant of Her Majesty the Queen, but this wasn’t the moment for that — a friend needed help, Mac needed help.  
“I can’t talk to you about this, Harm, I just can’t. Not to you and not to anyone with JAG.”, she revealed.  
“You are here because you know that you can talk to me, Mac. No matter what, it can’t be worse than the last time you hired me for your defense.”, he assured her, “Take a seat and let’s get to the bottom of it.”  
“I shouldn’t have come.”, one last — duty-bound — attempt to fulfill the expectations set for an responsible officer, but as she sat down and took the glass of cold water Harm offered her, she couldn’t hold it to herself anymore.  
Yet she tried again, this time by scaring away Harm from his offer: “I can’t expect you to commit crimes, to neglect your duties as an Navy Officer and to lie under oath.”  
  
“Well…”, despite all of that, Harm smiled to her, “… to start with, everything you mentioned would come down to committing a crime. And if such a fine lawyer like you are, Mac, considers the matter worthy of a crime, I’ll be with you.”  
“I’m serious, Hatm, this is big.”, she started just to then find her words rolling over themselves, “Tiner might have lied under oath, the Admiral could’ve planned that and he ordered me to commit obstruction.”  
Harm whistled: “Wow, now that is big for sure, Mac.”, for such a statement, he seemed surprisingly unimpressed, “But what’s behind all of that then?”  
“You must promise not to tell anyone under any circumstances at any time.”, Mac insisted, waiting for a sign of Harm to back off.  
He didn’t and so she finally continued: “When the proceedings were still in the flow at the Circuit, I received that call — a guy named Josh asking me to tell Tiner to return home to him as he needed Jason. I told the Admiral and reminded Tiner of keeping his private matters out of the military as he ordered me to.”  
“And?”, was still everything Harm had to offer to that.  
“As a matter of fact, that call would’ve to be investigated for witness tampering, obstruction, defamation, wire fraud and so on”, her voice tumbled.  
“If it was fake”, Harm added, still not visibly concerned by the revalations.  
“And if it’s not, it might be credible information”, Mac finished.  
“So you suspect that the Admiral didn’t want the matter investigated because we could find something that mandates a discharge of Petty Officer Tiner?”, Harm raised an eyebrow in more than just the figurative sense.  
“The Admiral was quite clear about the fact that he dislikes ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’, so that would be the first logical step to be taken. Then, he forced Tiner to testify under oath in an attempt to discredit any information that might come up concerning Tiner. And if something unexpected happened, he could still try the ‘poisoned by unlawful questioning in the first place’ defense”, Mac established her theory further, causing a long silence.

“I would call that an interesting theory, counselor, but there is too much speculation in it. In fact, it’s nothing else.”, Harm judged after some consideration.  
“You know that Tiner is like a son to Chegwidden, Harm?”, his visitor followed up.  
“The Admiral is too good a lawyer to do or mean something that stupid, Mac”, Harm shook his head.  
“You want that to be true just as much as I want it”, the more she thought about the matter, the more she could imagine that this version was the answer; “Haven't you read the studies about homosexuality in families?”  
“I’m interested in aviation, not in the sexual preferences of anyone who isn’t in my bedroom by her own choice.”, Harm couldn’t hold back, but returned to the matter in question fast: “It’s not like every brother — let alone half-brother — shares the preferences of his sibling, is it?”  
“No, but we both know that even the best lawyer makes stupid decisions to protect his family and friends.”  
“I agree with you on this matter in so far as that this call from this so-called Josh must be investigated — if not for the sake of the law, then for the sake of taking down a potential risk for JAG in the future.”, Harm conceded, “But for the rest, there is nothing that merits further thoughts at this point. And if there should come to light something in the flow, we could still join the Admiral in his perhaps exemplary act of civil disobedience.”  
Mac wouldn’t have thought that Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., would propose a flagrant breach of the law with a bright smile, as if it was like the questionable — in her opinion at least — scent of kerosene, but he did just that, even without flinching.


	3. Morning Beauty

  
**080** **5** **local time** **(Friday morning)** **  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, Virginia**

“Tiner!”, Petty Officer Jason Tiner jumped out of his daydreams, but couldn’t suppress a hearty yawn before he reached for the button of the intercom to answer the Admiral's call — it had been a very short night after his drive back from Baltimore after all, but he had been on time, even if only physically present at some moments: “Sir?”  
“I’m standing right in front of you, Tiner!”, it was a strange mixture of anger and amusement that reflected the facial expressions of Admiral A.J. Chegwidden as Tiner looked up to his boss, “You didn’t respond to my calls twice, Petty Officer and you seem to be pretty exhausted. Haven’t you slept this night?”  
“I’m sorry Admiral.”, the Yeoman blushed in under one second after his realization, “This is really unprofessional of me, Sir!”  
“Well, I heard she is a good-looking babe at least, Tiner?”, Chegwidden smiled, clearly amused of that reaction, “But is she worth an official reprimand on your records, as you might one day aspiring to apply to Newport.”  
“Sir!”, Tiner was alarmed, “I… I… Please, Admiral!”, he could not think of an appropriate response to the unusual words or even less the message the Admiral had given to him there and ended up stuttering.  
“Relax, Tiner!”, came the fatherly order, followed by the realization that — once again — a coworker had played a joke at his expense — this time even the Admiral himself, “But that doesn’t clear the situation, Tiner. I expect you in my office at the earliest convince.”, his boss continued, “Or should I ask the Gunny to put that into my schedule so that I can be sure not to loose my lunch break to another glitch of yours today?”  
“That won’t be necessary, Admiral, I’ll not fail you again.”, Tiner assured him and adding the question, “What was it you wanted to ask from me, Sir?”  
“What was it… Oh, right!”, confusion made way for another smile - a warm one that someone who knew about reading people would identify as forgiveness, “I was wondering about Colonel MacKenzie. I expected her at eight hundred in my office, Tiner!”  
“I put that on her schedule yesterday, as requested, Sir!”, the Yeoman confirmed, “But the Colonel is running just five minutes late, Sir, wouldn’t you say…”  
“It’s six minutes actually, Tiner.”, Chegwidden intercepted, “And that’s not like her, so I was a little concerned.”  
“I didn’t know you could do that too, Admiral. And Col…”, Tiner wanted to tell him that Sarah MacKenzie had just entered behind him, but the Admiral stopped him again, this time to put his one record straight: “I was a Navy SEAL, Tiner. You better keep track of your time on a mission if you want to succeed!”  
“It’s not six minutes, Sir, it’s six minutes and thirty-seven seconds at this point!”, was the first thing Mac could contribute and the last thing before she was overwhelmed by the urgent need to yawn. As the Admiral had turned around in the right moment to witness that, only her training as a U.S. Marine kept her from blushing while she snapped to attention an apologized, “I’m sorry, Sir. Good morning, Admiral!”  
“At ease, Colonel!”, Chegwidden nodded, “… and a good morning to you too. I guess it was something about your Australian boyfriend that kept you from sleeping? Maybe I should find myself a Mrs. Chegwidden again, before I’m out of touch with my staff on that matters.”  
“Yes Sir!”, responded Mac, using the need for clarification as a way to conceal the little lie that confirmation brought with it, “I mean that I got carried away, Sir, not that…”  
“Oh, keep quiet, Colonel. I’ve heard already enough on that just listening to myself — stupid idea.”, the Admiral also pretended something, namely to be annoyed, but he didn’t take the effort to hide that, “Maybe I should make Commander Rabb my new Chief of Staff and discuss the administrative matters with him, if not only my Yeoman but also my Chief of Staff seem to be preoccupied with other matters than their official duties.”  
What was the perfect time for Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., to pass by on the way back from the kitchen to his office, also unable to suppress a yawn before a hurried “Good morning, Admiral!”  
“For God’s sake!”, it was only a half-hearted swearing, “Tiner, put some beds on the list for the next budget requests!”, he signaled Mac to follow him into his office.”  
“Aye Aye, Sir!”, the Yeoman confirmed that order.  
Unsure if his assistant, sometimes a little slow-witted when it came to jokes, would actually do that, Chegwidden put his head through the door before closing it, just to clarify, “That was a joke, Tiner.”

  
  


Tiner closed his eyes, this time not because he was tired but because the Admiral had closed the door just as he confirmed “I knew, Sir!” and therefore for sure didn’t hear that response — he was looking like an idiot yet again!  
“Don’t worry, he knows it, Tiner!”, a voice from the other door, still and always open, tried to cheer him up, “He calls you top of the range at every occasion.”  
“Gunny!”, Tiner greeted Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez, but was once again cut short, this time by his supervisor without stars.  
“Are we on Gunny-terms again, man?”, the Gunny smiled.  
“Actually, I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday, Gunny.”, h e continued, not commenting on the interruption — something he was quite used to, “That doesn’t mean we are clear yet, but I overreacted yesterday .”  
“ No need to apologize….” - — that was clearly just a phrase - — “… I understand why you did it. I have to apologize for ambushing you with my offer, Tiner.” — that was genuine — “I should have asked just for your brothers phone number. It was stupid of me to think that having diner would be a good idea after what I did to both of you.”  
“ No, Gunny…”, Tiner tried once again to move on their discussion past the constant misunderstandings of the last days, but he couldn’t finish that.  
“It’s alright that you still want to protect him, Tiner.”, his colleague tried very hard to hide the disappointment in his voice and face, but it was obvious even to the often oblivious petty officer, “But would you care to tell me if at some point I can renew my offer?”  
“No, I won’t.”, this time, the attempt was more forceful and successful, as no interruption followed besides the fact that the Gunny was clearly hurt over what he expected to follow — for which there was no need: “Edward and I have already discussed your offer, Gunny, and we agree.”  
“You… What?”, the Petty Officer could not remember seeing his superior that excited over something he had done or said, “You called him?”  
“I drove to Baltimore after JAG yesterday.”, was the true answer to that question, but wasn’t believed at first.  
“Didn’t somebody tell you that you’re bad at sarcasm, Tiner?”, the mood of the Gunny had clearly lighted over what he had just learned.  
“Actually I wasn’t joking, Gunny. I drove to Baltimore and just got called out by the Admiral for the results of that. I slept around three hours I guess.”, all of that response bursting with bitterness.  
“ You did that for me?”, genuine surprise followed.  
“Actually I did it for Ed.”, Tiner objected that conclusion, “I knew he wouldn’t agree if I wouldn’t talk him into it. You’re not a bad guy, Gunny, you deserve your chance to apologize if it’s important to you, but he needs to come to terms with what happened .”  
“You talked him into it and yet you are not forgiving me yourself? That’s confusing, Petty Officer Tiner.”, it wasn’t meant as a tease, but it sounded like one.   
“I might have been too harsh yesterday, but what I said stands: It’s too much to just pretend nothing happened and move on, even if I thought it wouldn’t back at the trial.”, Tiner seemed not to happy about the need to repeat his position.   
“Well, thank you nonetheless, I guess.”, Gunny concluded and turned around to leave, “Talk to you later then, Petty Officer.”  
“If I’m still living then, Gunny. The Admiral wants me in later, I pissed him off.”, Tiner admitted, just having some talk they had before the disaster of a late night on Baltimore’s streets had unfolded, “If not, you’ll meet Ed tomorrow at 7 pm around Poplar Grove and Lafayette Avenue, right at the Saint Edward’s Church.”  
“Pardon me, Tiner?”, Gunny turned back, looking confused.  
“Well, I missed his calls earlier while daydreaming. I’m tired as hell.”, the younger soldier confessed.  
“I didn’t ask about that, Jason, although I’m sorry. We’ll get you a coffee right away after I take these files where they belong.”, Tiner hadn’t noticed the files before, “I was irritated that you decided where to go on my invitation.”  
“You don’t have to play nice now, Victor, keep that for tomorrow!”, it was a mixture of teasing and annoyance in the Petty Officer’s voice, “Take those files and I’ll get my coffee myself as the Admiral is occupied now talking to the Colonel.”  
“ I don’t want to play nice Tiner, I am nice. It’s the least I can do.”, the Gunny felt the urge to clarify.  
“Let’s mind our own business for a while, Gunny, and try not to yell at each other again. I don’t want to pretend forgiveness. And as you wondered: Ed hasn’t got a car. We’ve therefore chosen something in Baltimore and St. Edward isn’t too far from his apartment or the restaurant.”  
  
  


“Did he choose a gay bar again, just like for his birthday?”, the joke backfired as Tiner rolled his eyes and exhaled sharply: “So much about playing nice, isn’t it? I can’t remember why I robbed my own sleep just to get you your way and you have proven my point from earlier now, Gunny.”  
“It was a joke, Tiner, nothing more. Sorry if I hit a point again.”, Gunny tried to not making things worse again hastily.

But this time, Tiner had his emotions under control — he wouldn’t repeat the situaton yesterday evening, at the same place. He simply stated calmly but with emphasis: “I’m not fragile, Gunny, but Ed might be, I realized that while we talked about you. I won’t allow you to make more of a mess than you and this Manny already did, even if I trust you act with good intention. Last time you hit something it was my face and it was with good intentions too, I guess.”  
He didn’t let his coworker the time to respond before he added: “Actually, Ed suggested a Mexican Restaurante. Just so you know that he might not be euphoric about your offer or share my trust in you, but will give you a fair chance after I convinced him. Don’t let me look like a fool again, Gunny.”

At this point, Gunny was just speechless and could give nothing more than a nod before he hurried to get out of Tiner’s view. They hadn’t left ‘Gunny-terms’ again, put that was the only positive thing to tell about this situation, but he’d have to really think about what to say tomorrow.  
He’d thought of it like something that could be be simply kept going, but with that philosophy he had now failed two times in not much more than twelve hours. That wasn’t a very favorable record.


End file.
